Total Cookie. Empire Earning a Spinoff

Fox is pulling a CBS. What, a show has ratings? Spinoff time. Empire, the midseason replacement drama was must-see TV last Spring. It actually pulled off the unheard of feat of adding viewers each week.

Before you think Taraji P. Henson is being pulled from the show, that will not be the case. Fox knows she’s an integral part of the show, and any spinoff would be a prequel of sorts.

It would follow the early life of Miss Cookie Lyons. Her life in North Philadelphia and time spent in the same house with her mother and sisters. Fox’s idea is to build on the story of what makes Henson’s character such a dynamic personality and why.

Lee Daniels, executive producer, brought up the idea of a spinoff involving the character, and he’s bullish on it happening.

There is going to be a spinoff from Empire, without question. There’s so much ripe story that we’ve talked about already— about Cookie’s family, what makes her. That in itself is fascinating to me.

Technically, that’s not brass from Fox speaking but come on. You think they are not going to milk the show for everything its worth. Those kind of ratings for Fox brings back the golden days of when American Idol was relevant. Yeah, it’s been a bit.

The true test will be this fall when Empire returns for a full season. If the ratings hold, or perhaps grow, you can bank on Fox signing off on an Empire prequel. Now, will it be Lee Daniels’ vision of a Cookie Lyons centered show?

Attach a firm maybe. She has the most dynamic personality on the show, so it makes sense to hit her backstory first.

Empire Season 2

For fans of the show, set those DVRs to September 23 at 9 p.m ET. With the success of the first season, Fox ordered 18 episodes for the second. It’s a bit shy of the typical 22-episode average, but could mean Fox is more interested in a tighter story versus quantity.

Guest stars are everywhere for this season. Announcements have already been made for Chris Rock, Marisa Tomei, Alicia Keys, Ne-Yo, Lenny Kravitz and Ludacris to appear this season.

What do you think? Excited for season two and the possibility of a Cookie Lyons spinoff?